No Second Chance
by Woodhouse
Summary: Set after the last OAV of Love Hina and after they finish Toudai, Keitaro and Naru have broken up. What will the others think of Keitaro when they see him again? Kei x Mot
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Love Hina. So don't sue me please

Authors notes: Well.... Don't really know what to say, erm..... okay, Love Hina is one of my favourite Animes, mainly because its got some romance in it and its funny too, a great combination for a sap like me.

Ive wanted to write a fanfic for a while now, but I wasn't sure if I would be any good or not, so this is my first, called 'No Second Chance'. Once you've read it (if you don't finish it from disgust I wont blame you) could you maybe just give a few words of encouragement (grovelling I know) or constructive (I cant stress that enough) criticism, it would really make my day if it turns out that somebody likes it, thank you very much, ill shut up now.

For those of you who have read this before, sorry to dissapoint you, im just trying to sort out the chapter setup in the story again. I should have chapter 4 ready for uploading within the next day or so. Again very sorry to dissapoint anyone.

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No second chance

Holding his hand out in front of him, he could feel the light pitter-patter of rain fall upon his fingers. Looking up into the sky, Keitaro saw the desolate grey colours that plagued his view from end to end. He thought to himself of how dark and cloudy his life had suddenly become, now that his special someone had left him and that how the weather, somehow sensing his grief, was now mirroring his heart.

Keitaro called it a day at the site; He wasn't able to concentrate on his work, not that he had been able to for the last six months. It wasn't an easy task trying to be an archaeologist and a good boyfriend. 'Especially in a place that doesn't have any malls or movie theatres or shops.' Keitaro thought to himself, giving the slightest of smiles. 'Why am I still here? I should be chasing after Naru trying to explain why I don't want her to go.' He contemplated the same thing that had been going over his mind ever since she had left.

The former karinnin left the dig site after having changed into clean clothes and walked towards the simple prefabricated building that he had called home for the past six months. He couldn't shake the feeling of déjà vu as he walked towards the battered house, the sorry looking pale grey block had been repaired many times to cover for Naru's anger at being in the middle of nowhere.

The last two days had moulded themselves into a giant mess, all revolving around the same question; 'Why did I let her go? Does being an archaeologist mean that much that Id rather do this than anything else?' The rumbling in Keitaro's stomach briefly brought his mind back to the now. He unlocked the front door to his "home" and entered. He stopped himself from saying the immortal line, "Honey, I'm home!" as he attempted to hook his wet jacket onto his peg. His realisation that no one was here to meet him brought a new wave of depression upon him; Keitaro trudged into the kitchen after being reminded to eat by his stomach once more.

"Ah. I think ill just eat something quick and go to bed" He said to no one in particular.

Keitaro popped the kettle on and found some instant noodles whilst rummaging in the cupboards. Sitting down, his mind returned to his earlier question: 'Is archaeology the most important thing in my life? Is it my dream?'

Thinking for awhile, hands propping his face up on the table, the answer came to him. 'No. It isn't.'

Sure he had said that it had been his dream in the past, but that was when he was apprenticing under Seta-san. Seta-san always had a knack of finding the most interesting stuff on his excavations, something which Keitaro had failed to pick up. It didn't mean that Keitaro was a bad archaeologist though, far from it, six months after joining Seta-san on another of his digs he suggested to Keitaro that maybe he should see what he could do on his own.

In a rash turn of arrogance, the chance to show Narusegawa that he could be a success and that he could outdo Seta-san, the man that Naru had looked up to, Keitaro tried to take on his own job, found a suitable site and started his own excavation.

'I couldn't have picked a worse place, for either of us. She was always so angry that there wasn't anyone around for miles. I always missed our friends back at Hinata-sou. I kept apologizing for being here but in the end she must have become sick of seeing me.'

A loud whistle brought him out of his depressive trance. The kettle tooted to tell him that his water had boiled.

Keitaro slowly got from his seat and prepared his meal, stirring the noodles whilst pouring the hot water into the bowl, he sighed as he tried to remember all the times Naru and he had been together. He smiled as he remembered all of the good times, when he and Naru had gotten along. Keitaro's face slumped downwards as he remembered all of the Naru-punches that had been inflicted upon him,

"One way or another, it was always because I made a mistake." He mused.

Returning to the table with his instant noodles with a set of chopsticks he sat and began to eat his two minute meal.

'I made the biggest one by moving Narusegawa and myself here, every time we got a letter from everyone at Hinata-sou telling us how much they missed us she would cry and it was me to blame, but I couldn't see it, I was too busy being excited about the stupid dig.'

In a few lifeless mouthfuls, Keitaro had finished his noodles. He got up once again from his seat and placed his bowl into the sink and moved into the bedroom.

Narusegawa had been all that had been going through his mind since she had left, hell, since he had met her! And now she had gone, and it was all his fault.

The former Karinnin, who was now resigned to the fact that he had lost Naru forever, got into bed and wondered what to do. He had lost the woman he loved, and he had lost his dream.

* * *

Holding her hand out in front of her, she could feel the pitter-patter of rain fall upon her fingers. Looking up into the sky, she could see the gloomy clouds surround Hinata-sou, it was if the sky knew how she really felt, as if her sadness had created the very rain clouds that threatened to soak her. 

Going back inside to her room, she sat on the cold floor and stared out of her window, she had just gone inside in time; the rain was now free flowing over the landscape.

She knew why she was sad, she had known for the longest time. It was because of _him_. Try as she might to put him out of her thoughts, his smile kept forming itself in her minds eye, everything about him in fact. A minute didn't pass without her thinking about the man she loved, she had missed him so much, it disrupted everything she did during the day, but this isn't what made her unhappy, it was because she had never told him how she had really felt.

She continued to stare out into the rain, thinking of him, away in some distant land never to return. Realising that she might never get the chance to tell him how she really felt, her simple unhappiness was wrenched away from her, only to be replaced by sheer guilt.

She felt so sorry for him, he was so alone now, if only she had told him, then maybe she would have been the one that had been with him. Tears began to appear in her eyes, she realised what she had always known, she had missed her chance.

Wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, she looked over at the clock on the over side of the room.

'It is getting late'. She told herself, trying to will her body to go to bed where she would have the escape of sleep. Her body relented and she slowly got up, she went towards the window as if to shut it but stopped to look one last time at the falling rain.

Staring out once more a memory formed within her, it was when she had first met _him_.

'The first time I met that wonderful pervert. It was raining, just like this.'

Shaking away the thought, Motoko closed the window and got into her futon, cursing herself at her stubbornness towards her true feelings.

Her mind wandered, thinking of what-ifs. Scenarios playing through her mind, ways she could have treated Urashima differently. But no, there was no sense in regretting the past she told herself, she turned over and tried to settle herself for sleep.

Her eyes closed, and for a few moments clarity had returned to her, she knew what she wanted, what she had wanted since Urashima and Naru-sempai had left together.

"A second chance" She whispered.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Very sorry for the lack of an update for a while. I got my laptop back from the people at DELL, who informed me the problem i was having was that there were a few screws loose, which means all they did over a weeks period, was tighten some tiny screws.... But anyway thankyou very much all of you that took time out to review my first chapter, i didnt like it very much how it turned out but I guess that some people did. after reading and re-reading this chapter I feel a bit better about this one, but if you have any problems with it please dont hesistate to tell me what im doing wrong. Thankyou to everyone who takes the time to read my (meager) work. Oh, and if you do happen to like it (im not getting my hopes up, i promise), your welcome to tell me, it would go a long way to raising my spirits and help me to try and become a better writer.

**The almighty disclaimer:** I dont own Love Hina, if i did, why am i spending my time writing something im not getting paid for?

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Chapter 2 – No second Chance

The sting of sunlight in her face beckoned her awake. The woman slowly opened her eyes to search for the source of the unwelcome intrusion on her sleep; she found it moments after she had wiped the sleep from her eyes.

The window that she thought she had closed last night lay slightly ajar, the gap large enough to produce a sliver of sunlight which was now blinding her.

Motoko let out a sigh as she stretched her arms out, she had been having the most wonderful dream, she knew that it had been make-believe but she had enjoyed it nonetheless.

She had dreamt that Urashima had come back, that he had come back for her to confess his love to the kendo girl. Motoko smiled slightly as she recalled how she had perceived Urashima in her dream; he had looked quite different to when she had last seen him.

He had been a fair bit taller, easily a match for her own height, she had known that she had been dreaming before then, but that had been the detail that had cemented it in Motoko's mind.

He was a bit… bigger too. Motoko blushed slightly as she thought of his stature in the fantasy; he had looked like he had been trapped in a gym whilst he had been away.

Motoko replayed in her mind how in the dream Urashima had returned to Hinata-sou, how he had headed directly to Motoko's room to confess, only to be confronted by Naru-sempai.

Motoko scowled as she remembered Naru-sempai beating the living hell out of Keitaro for all of the 'stupid' things he had done, but Urashima refused to let her Naru-punches stop him from reaching the woman he loved. He somehow got past Naru-sempai and entered Motoko's room.

The warrior-woman recalled being in her bedroom, but she had been sat in silence in the middle of the floor, it had been dark all around except for the space she occupied which had been bathed in a bright white light.

Motoko let out another sigh as she rolled over to look at the space where the 'event' took place in her fantasy. In the dream, Keitaro had walked in and started talking, Motoko couldn't hear the words but she _knew_ that he had been proclaiming his love for her. As he had gotten closer and closer, the pounding in Motoko's heart increased. She could almost feel his light touch when he had placed his hand upon her cheek.

Motoko closed her eyes as if to remember the moment better, she saw in her minds eye how Urashima had removed his glasses as he got closer still, so that their lips had nearly touched, she held her breath to wait for the perfect kiss, and then…

"Mew!"

'Mew!?'

Motoko opened her eyes slowly to search out what had made the strange sound. She didn't have to search though, as right in front of her, she could see it. Well almost.

A sort of blurry yellow and green shape was right in front of Motoko's face, its own lips placed upon hers.

Motoko's heart sank, she hoped against hope that it wasn't what she knew it was. She remained calm as she pulled away from the kiss, the kiss that had been meant for Urashima, and looked into the beady eyes of her eternal tormentor and nemesis.

"Mew!" It proclaimed as it held up a flipper.

"T-t-t-turtle…..TURTLE!!!!" Motoko let out a high pitched squeal as she batted at the _thing_ that had taken her precious kiss away from her.

She looked in terror as her hand swipes were easily avoided by the flying water demon, which was merrily dodging her attacks with a smile on its face. Motoko cursed herself for getting so into the dream that she had left herself unguarded from the _turtle_… she would punish herself later for her ineptitude with more training but right now she had to get away from the evil, happy, _turtle_…

After a few more chops her attacker seemed to relent its assault on her for a moment; Tama-chan backed off and looked at Motoko as if it were puzzled by her response to the kiss. Motoko took the chance and reached for her sword, she knew exactly where it lay as she sent her arm out to the side of her futon.

'I will take care of this vile thing once and for all; I will chop it up and serve it to Su-chan for breakfast!'

Her own smile appeared on Motoko's face as her hand made contact with the wooden shaft that was the hilt of her blade. With one hand she removed the cover of her futon, the other bringing the sword towards her; she readied herself to do battle with the awful creature.

'Shinobu-chan will be upset, but she is too young to see the evil of this beast, I will rid Hinata-sou of this demon!'

Tama-chan continued to look confused and a little upset by Motokos reaction, but the kendo girl didn't care, all she wanted was to get rid of the horrible thing. Out of bed now, she unsheathed her sword and began to say the words of one of her clans techniques, determined to end the turtles life.

"Shinmeiryuu, Hiken Zankuu…" She stopped mid-sentence as she brought her sword down, the resulting blast was less than she had intended but still managed to create a miniature whirlwind from her blade. The mini-tornado cut through the room and towards its target, it seemed to capture the helpless Tama-chan and propelled her through Motoko's bedroom window.

Once the whirlwind had left with its prey, the room returned to its earlier serenity. Motoko, now stood, was confused somewhat why she had not sent the _turtle_… into the stratosphere with her Ki blast.

She looked up at where she had forced the creature to leave, the window, now shutter-less, was no longer shielding Motoko's eyes from the suns rays. The young woman brought her empty hand up to her face to protect her eyes from the sudden light, but then took it away and waited for the discomfort to recede.

Once her pupils had adjusted, Motoko walked towards the window and looked out onto the landscape below Hinata-sou, last nights downpour had cleared the skies of clouds and all she could see above was the colour blue.

"Urashima would have been upset if I had destroyed the… thing." She told herself softly.

When Motoko had been reciting the words of her Zankuusen she had immediately thought of Urashima. So many times he had been the recipient of her Ki blasts; it had become a habit of hers to think of him when she used her clans' techniques.

'That was why I could not kill the turtle.' The kendo girl thought as she put two and two together.

Motoko continued to look out as a smile formed on her face.

'The old Motoko would have seen this as a sign of weakness, she would have trained for days upon days to show that I really didn't care what Urashima thought. I would have put the lapse down to me still being sleepy or something ludicrous like that.'

The smile on Motoko's face grew, she never used to smile like this either.

'It is all because I finally admitted to myself that I love Urashima, ever since the day that I was able to be honest with myself I have never been happier.'

Motoko's smile faded as she remembered how she had felt once the 'pervert' had left Hinata-sou with Naru-sempai.

'I was happy at first, I was able to train and study in peace, I didn't have to be on edge and keep an eye on him to make sure nothing was happening. I thought that in that time my skills had sharpened and I was gaining a lot of ground in my studies.'

Motoko tried to smile at what happened next, but only half succeeded. Now that she was being honest with herself, there was no point in lying about it; it still hurt thinking about what happened.

'But when it finally came around to taking the test for Toudai, I was overconfident of my abilities; I had no idea how hard it would actually be. I just assumed that since Urashima had been able to gain entry, then it would be no problem for me, a 'superior' female.'

How wrong she had been. Motoko remembered the pain she felt when she had found out that she had not been accepted, not only that but failed at something that 'perverted male' had been able to do.

The kendo girl sighed and shook her head as she recalls what came to pass the months that followed.

'I didn't let it go; I could not let it go that Urashima had bested me, I was furious at myself, and at him.'

Motoko's full smile returned to her, it was during this time that she had had the ultimate epiphany.

'Urashima was all I could think about. When I wasn't studying, I was taking out my anger towards him in my training. After a week or so of studying and training until I passed out from exhaustion, the anger started to subside, but I was still thinking about _him.'_

Motoko propped her face upon the window sill with her hands as she reminisced with herself.

It had taken her weeks to figure out why she was no longer angry at Urashima's achievement; she had been studying math problems late on one night and could not accomplish one task in particular. After two hours of calculating things still didn't add up right for her, she lost her temper, as she had done many times whilst studying math's, and threatened to give up getting into Toudai. It had been then when she asked herself how Urashima had conquered such a task.

'I then realized how hard this must had been for him, he had already failed the test three times, I could only imagine how upset he must have felt to find out that he hadn't made it, time and again. It was then that I realized the strength of Urashima's will, having only failed once I was nearly giving up, but he had kept going, even when we had all given up on him. He even had to look after everyone who lived here too, including me. I never understood how kind he had been until I was in his shoes, sort of speak. He didn't have to help us; he could have, and should have, gotten on with his studies instead of trying to help us with our problems. I am still ashamed of how I repaid his kindness, it was not his fault that he is forever clumsy, he did not deserve to be blown to bits every single time he tried to help.'

After that Motoko had completely forgotten her studies and began to focus upon her memories of Urashima, how he had never given up on any of them and how he was willing to help at the expense of himself. The more and more that she thought about all of the things that he had done, the more she came to admire him. He was no 'weak male', she had realized, but a good man, and he had deserved better from her.

'Even after this revelation, I still thought of him. I had thought of males as only mindless perverts, who only wanted one thing. But Urashima had not been like that, he had only wanted us to succeed and to achieve our dreams. I keep thinking of all of the times he had helped me, how he made me feel better about myself when I was feeling down, he makes me believe in myself, no matter what.'

Motoko picked herself up from her perch at the window; she looked out once more at the scenery, and said, softly,

"Because he always believed in me… and now that I can see and admit this, I can admit how much I admire and love him."

Before the young woman turned away to get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast, one more thought went through her mind, the thing that had been bothering her since her discovery, ever since she realized that she had been jealous of Naru-sempai when they had set off together:

'How can I get my second chance with Urashima?'

* * *

A/N: Thanks for being able to stomach the whole of that chapter, after i read the first chapter i came to the conclusion that Motoko was very much OOC, i just wanted to explain how she changed over the course of Keitaros absence. Again if you like (or dislike) it, please just take a few moments to say what you liked/didnt like. Thanks again.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: First things first, im sorry about this. Those of you who have already read this chapter I apologize. I tried to change the chapter format and all it did was screw everything up, so ive put everything back in order.

Thank You for the positive response for this chapter, im working on the next chapter and im pretty confident I can get it ready for Friday/Saturday.

Btw, im giving a special prize to the one who figures out how I kinda wrote myself into a corner considering the storyline and the title description, if nobody gets it though ill be explaining next chapter.

Ive also considered rewriting the first chapter again, im not entirely happy with it, but im not quite sure what to do with it.

Anyway, to those who haven't read this before, this is chapter three of 'No Second Chance', I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina, please don't sue.

* * *

No second chance – Chapter 3

Motoko could smell that breakfast was being made in the kitchen, from the delicious aroma she could guess who it was that was preparing the food. The kendo girl glided down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, forcefully removing the contemplative look she had been wearing since she had thought about Urashima as she greeted the young cook.

"Good Morning Shinobu-chan."

The young girl turned to see the occupant of those words, frying pan in hand.

"Eh? Oh… good morning Motoko-sempai." She replied, in a slightly dull tone.

'Their breaking up has obviously affected her, too.' Motoko thought to herself as she sat at one end of the table, trying to remain composed and not let her feelings be known.

Although Motoko was now being honest with herself about how she felt about Keitaro, she still wasn't about ready to let her friends know about those feelings.

'If I did, then I would be harassed by Kitsune-san for forever and a day trying to set us up on one of her crazy schemes.'

As if she could read her thoughts, Kitsune stumbled into the kitchen, looking slightly out of it and still wearing the same clothes as she went out in yesterday. "Uggghhhhh…. What time izzit? Where am I?" The drunkard asked as she fell into a chair that Shinobu pulled out for her.

"Erm… would either of you like any breakfast?" The young girl asked rather worriedly.

Motoko could actually see Kitsune turn an ever so slight colour of green as the hung-over party girl looked over at the cuisine that Shinobu had prepared. Motoko doubted she would ever see the appeal of getting wasted night after night in the fashion that her friend did, especially because of the way she quite obviously felt right now.

"Why aren't you still in bed?" The kendo girl asked flatly.

Still looking green Kitsune turned her head away from the food, and to face her. "I…" the woman rubbed her eyes before continuing. "…Heard a scream that woke me up, know owt' about it Motoko?"

"Ah." It was Motoko's turn to change colour, this time a slight red. "I was accosted by that foul creature again, I am sorry that I disturbed you." She bowed slightly in apology.

Kitsune didn't respond, she only put a hand underneath her top and rummaged around, pulling out a small yellow and green package.

"You mean this one?" She asked, her face regained some of her natural mischief as she tossed the thing towards Motoko.

Motoko could only stare with her mouth slightly ajar as the small object suddenly came to life in mid air. "Mew!" It said with glee, and headed straight for her.

A scream that could be heard from the tea house screeched from Motoko's lips as she saw Tama-chan flying towards her. The windows shook and the cutlery on the table rattled as the air left the young woman's lungs to form her scream, but this didn't seem to deter Tama-chan.

"I thought so…" Said Kitsune, who grinned from ear to ear. "Im going back to bed. Shinobu? Could ya' maybe leave some of that out for me later? Thank ya' kindly!"

"H-Hai…" Was the reply from the young chef, who was too busy looking at Motoko run around the room in terror to notice Kitsune saunter back upstairs.

After running a few laps of horror around the kitchen table, Motoko managed to grasp hold of her sword from her side of the table where she had been sat.

The swordswoman unsheathed the blade, both her eyes and her sword now seemed to glint in the morning light, stopping Tama-chan in its tracks.

"I should have made turtle-soup out of you before!!! I will not make the same mistake twice, you foul creature!"

"No wait, Motoko-sempai!!" Cried a now-hiding Shinobu. The warrior would pay no heed to her words now though; she brought her sword high above her head, ready to strike…

"AH-HA!!! I HAVE YOU NOW!!!!" Came a shout from the kitchen doorway, turning Motoko's attention from her prey.

The young woman saw a blonde-haired young girl standing there merely five feet away from herself and Tama-chan, a look of innocent joy on her face… and a bazooka readied on her shoulder.

Both Motoko's and Shinobu's eyes widened (I don't think it's possible for Tama-chans eyes to widen) at the sight of the destructive weapon they had set upon them.

"Wait Su!! Don't!!" Motoko pleaded with her friend, trying to coax her out of blowing her and Shinobu, the kitchen, and the _evil turtle_ up.

"FIRE!!!" Su shouted excitedly, as she triggered a shot which catapulted her tiny frame back into the living room. "WEEEEE!!!!"

Everything turned into slow motion for Motoko; she tilted backwards as the large missile passed overhead. The warrior woman then vaulted the kitchen table like it was nothing and grabbed Shinobu with one arm, before jumping out of the kitchen with her young friend in tow and turned just in time to see the kitchen blow up into smithereens as Tama-chan flew out of the window.

"Are you alright Shinobu-chan?" Motoko asked as she got up and began to dust off her kitchen-covered clothes.

"I-I-I suppose so…" She replied as she too, got up and dusted off her things. "B-but what are we going to do now?"

Both of them continued to look at where the room had once been, but all that was left was a fiery mess. Motoko said, quite simply, as she started for the stairs, "We put out the fire. Ill go get the extinguisher."

Just as Motoko left to get the supplies, Su bounced back to the scene of the crime,

"Did I get 'im? Are we having roast turtle for breakfast?"

* * *

Motoko made her way up the stairs, heading for the store room that held the emergency things. Before she made it, a voice called out to her from down the hallway behind her.

"Hey!! I'm trying to get to sleep… keep the noise down will ya'?"

Motoko stopped and turned around to the older woman, it made sense to have them all help to put out the blaze downstairs.

"Kitsune-san. There has been an accident downstairs and we need to put out the fire. Could you wake up Naru-sempai and help us?"

Upon hearing the N-word, Kitsune's face became strangely focused, as if she hadn't been tired at all.

"Naru's not here. She left for her mom's last night. She said something about the place bringing back memories or something," The foxy lady scratched her head. "In fact, that was the last thing I remember about last night, WOW I must have had some fun! Now if only I could remember what I did and with who…" Kitsune, now in her 'deep in thought' stance, turned and started to shut her door.

"Wait!! We need…" Motoko tried to remind her, but to no avail. The door had shut without so much as a word from her friend.

Motoko rejected her instinct to break down her door and drag her downstairs to help; the fire needed putting out before it claimed any of the other rooms. Heading towards the store room once more a thought hit her.

'Did Kitsune-san just say Naru-sempai has gone? Then maybe Urashima will be able to return…' The kendo girl shook her head; there would be time to think about that later, right now, she needed to put out what was left of their kitchen downstairs.

Jogging to the store room, she opened the door and peered inside once she had switched the light on. Inside it turned out to be a vast expanse, easily the same size as any of the residents' rooms and crammed full of supplies. Motoko looked from left to right at the goods that the room held for any such emergency, looking with interest the woman could see a host of mops and buckets, cloths of all colours and shades, a collection of sake that Kitsune had obviously tried to hide, some other odds and ends and a whole battalion of spare fire extinguishers

Motoko picked the first of the extinguishers that was in line and hauled it up to her chest, adjusting her hands so that her grip was more comfortable. She took one last look at the stash of sake, 'I'll have words with Kitsune-san about that later,' before turning off the light and shutting the door.

Running somewhat awkwardly now, she headed down the stairs back to the now fully ablaze kitchen space. The young woman's mind thought of how Urashima used to take care of all of this by himself; even when he wasn't to blame for what happened.

'Having to do this now only upholds my admiration for Urashima; he worked so hard to ensure nothing went wrong at Hinata-sou, even with his clumsy nature.'

Standing now in front of the mini-inferno, Motoko looked at the culprit of the disaster, who was now sat in front of the fire with a stick in hand held over the flames, a slightly toasting banana stuck on the end of it.

"Yay! Bbq breakfast! Bbq breakfast!" She chanted bobbing her head from side to side.

Motoko rolled her eyes slightly in annoyance before picking up the small nuisance and placing her out of harms way. "Awwwwww. I wanted toasty bananas!"

"I-I-I'm sorry Motoko-sempai, I told her not to get too close but she didn't listen." Motoko saw Shinobu running towards them from the corner of her eye, a small bucket full of water in her hands. The small girl passed the swordswoman and twisted so as to throw the water into the flames, the resulting splash managed to make the fire quiver slightly, but didn't manage to deter it any.

"It's alright Shinobu-chan, I have the extinguisher now." Motoko motioned by moving her head downwards towards the shiny casing she was carrying.

"What's 'ex-sting-squish-er'? Is it good to eat?"

Su asked before leaping at the barrel, temporarily forgetting her toasted banana.

"No Su-chan. We are going to use it to put out the fire that _you_ started." Motoko replied, slightly annoyed at the young girl and her obliviousness to what was going on.

"Oh, okay!" Su said, letting go of Motoko and the extinguisher, she sat in a contemplative position, still wondering if somehow she could eat the large red barrel before remembering about her banana.

Motoko sighed from defeat. 'It is times like these that I wonder how we ever managed without Urashima before he came, and how we manage now.' The impromptu firewoman thought to herself as she got herself ready to put out the blaze at last.

* * *

An hour after the fire had been put out; the residents were gathered in the living room, along with one indifferent Haruka who stood before them listening to what had taken place.

The middle-aged woman, cigarette as ever sticking out of one side of her mouth, showed no hint of emotion as she always had done. Even after hearing the whole story, her voice was completely calm, she almost sounded bored when she began to speak.

"Hmm…you know how much this will cost the inn don't you?" She said as she eyeballed Su.

Su by now had realised the damage and the significance of what she had done, and was now looking extremely glum at being the cause of the meeting.

"I'm guessing about…" Haruka turned her head to take another look at the burnt out room, "…half a million yen."

Motoko looked at her small friend, Su was remaining quiet for once, she may not understand how much that amount of money was, but from Shinobu's shocked reaction the warrior could tell that she would get some idea.

"Can the inn really afford to pay that?" Kitsune asked, unusually the party girl was rather serious.

"No. The tea house hasn't been busy lately and since we've had fewer tenants than usual there is no way we can afford that." Haruka replied.

There was silence for a moment as the residents took in what their predicament would entail. Su was the first to speak, "I'm sorry, I will get a part-time job to pay back the money."

Motoko noted that Su was also being serious, you could still hear the innocent, joyous undertones that made Su's voice, but she was definitely being sincere with what she said.

"That would take forever." Haruka bluntly replied. "The only alternative left to us is for you to cook your meals at the tea house," The grumpy woman sighed, "Which means I'll be seeing a lot more of you."

Motoko looked around at her house mates, judging their reaction to the plan that Haruka had come up with. Su was obviously pleased that her bazooka exploits hadn't spelled the end of her meals, Kitsune had returned to her normal self and muttered something about a celebratory drink for seeing Haruka more often and Shinobu seemed to be okay with the news as well.

The news of having to have their meals outside of Hinata-sou did not dampen Motoko's spirits either, mentally she was about to give an all clear to the situation before Haruka-san spoke again.

"However…" The single word stopped the room dead, "I will contact Hina-san to get her to send Kanako here to be the Karinin." The silence continued, but Motoko noticed that the others' faces had dropped somewhat. "Kanako will make sure that something like this does not happen again." Haruka looked from side to side, cigarette still somehow lit and burning, waiting for a reply of some kind. She waited a few moments but none came, the middle-aged woman just shrugged her shoulders and left.

Shinobu was the first to speak after Haruka was out of earshot, "Aaauuuuu, I-I don't want Kanako-san to be Karinin again, s-she isn't very nice."

Kitsune nodded her agreement; the drunkard had one hand caress her chin as she thought about the state of affairs. "I agree, she was far too bitchy for her own good. Taking away my drinking and gambling rights like that…"

Su chan piped up next, noticeably back to her old self, "I say we get my Mecha-Tama 9000 and blow her up!! HEHE!"

"No turtles!" Motoko sharply replied, more forcefully than she intended. As if to explain herself she added, "I've had enough of those _evil things_ for a life time already."

"Aaaauuu, I wish sempai was still here…" Shinobu mumbled quietly to herself. Looking up she could now see three sets of eyes trained upon her, "I-I-I-I mean… Keitaro sempai was never strict…" The young girl tried to amend what she had said, the crimson tint on her face giving away how she really felt.

"Keitaro? Hmmmmm…" Kitsune's eyes lit up, Motoko could almost see the gears working inside the older woman's head as she came up with a scheme. Wondering what it was the trickster was planning, the kendo girl thought about the possibility of the man she loved returning.

'If it were Urashima that became Karinin again, and not Kanako-san, I would have all the time in the world to tell him how I feel! And since Naru-sempai is staying with her parents, I wouldn't have to worry about her interference! But how are we going to persuade him to come back?'

"Motoko? Why are you turning red? Did you eat something bad?" Su asked. The small blonde was now inches away from Motoko's face poking the warrior-woman with her toasting stick from earlier.

"Eh?? No-no-no… I'm just…. Errrr…" Motoko replied, trying to flap away her flushed look with her arms.

Kitsune gave Motoko a sideways look with a glint in her eye, she turned towards the swordswoman and was about to speak, but the party girl changed her mind and continued her thinking stance.

Motoko could see the air fall from her mouth as she breathed a sigh of relief, 'Does she know how I feel about Urashima?!' Kitsune glanced over once more at her before she started to speak, but Motoko could see a slight smile in her complexion.

"Naru would kill us if she found out we wanted him back… but I'll be damned if I'm putting up with that bitch of a cat girl!!" With that Kitsune stood up holding her head high defiantly and punching the air.

"YEAH!!" Su joined in, jumping on Kitsune's shoulders and punching the air herself.

"Erm… s-so what are going to do to get sempai back?" Shinobu asked tentatively.

Kitsune turned to the small girl after putting Su on the ground. She gave Shinobu a knowing eye, and said, "Oh, I have a plan, you'll see… but right now, if anyone needs me ill be in the store room. Fu fu fu fu… Byeeeee!"

The party girl gave the others a lopsided grin and hurried up the steps.

"I wonder what Kitsune-san has in mind…?" Shinobu seemed to ask no-one in particular.

"Maybe she'll use my Mecha-Tama 9000 to go and get 'im!" Su piped in, the young girl was bouncing around the room, becoming over-excited at the prospect of using heavy machinery as usual.

'The only machine Kitsune-san will be needing is a stomach pump' Motoko thought to herself as she rolled her eyes slightly.

"I'm gonna go prep the Mecha-Tama, heheheheheheh I wonder if I can attach some more missiles to it and put in a nuclear power plant…" The small blonde muttered to herself bounding out of the room.

Motoko was about to leave the room herself when she noticed Shinobu sat quietly, the chef was obviously thinking about something, hard. She noticed how slowly a small beam appeared on her lips, "Maybe he would…" Shinobu looked up at her and blushed, "…o-oh, would you excuse me Motoko-sempai."

The warrior looked in a somewhat confused manner as Shinobu got up and ran upstairs as well, the smile never leaving her face as she rushed away from Motoko's view.

'I wonder what she is so cheery about.'

Motoko shook her head and got to her feet, the thought of them trying to get Urashima to come back to Hinata-sou still excited her. As the swordswoman strolled towards her room, she thought about how they were going to accomplish their task.

'Urashima is probably still feeling down about Naru-sempai, he probably won't want to come back if he thinks that she is here. Kitsune-san knows this and yet she says she has a plan… maybe she means to go and explain the situation to him?' Motoko considered this for a moment as she swung open her door and went inside her room.

'That wouldn't work either, as soon as Naru-sempai found out that one or all of us had gone to retrieve Urashima she would never forgive us for betraying her. Kitsune-san also knows this, so what is her plan then?'

Trying to put herself in the same state of mind as the trickster, Motoko slowly pieced together what it was that the drunkard would likely do.

'Kitsune-san will try and get Urashima to come back of his own free will. If he does that it will be him that Naru-sempai is angry at and not her.'

"It certainly sounds like something Kitsune-san would do." Motoko said to herself. That was all well and good, but she still didn't know how she would do it, if her plan would work at all. Kitsune was very good at coming up with schemes, but her problem was that they all tended to backfire upon her.

'I cannot let that happen. This may be the only chance I ever have to tell Urashima how I feel and to finally see how he feels about me! No, thinking about what Kitsune-san is going to do will not work, I have to do something for myself. I'll write Urashima a letter telling him of our situation and that I… I mean 'we' want him to come home.'

Motoko could feel her heart rate increase as she thought of everything this simple letter could accomplish, how Keitaro would return and proclaim his love for her, just like in her dream.

* * *

Several hours had passed; the giddiness in Motoko's heart hadn't stopped for a single beat. She had carefully written the letter to Urashima, it had taken seven attempts but she had made it perfect, and now she would post it, at night so that the others would not see what she was doing.

'I do not wish to deceive them, but I cannot let them know how I feel about Urashima yet, I do not yet know how they will react.'

Motoko rose to her feet and strode to the door, realising that she was now holding the letter tightly against her chest, she stopped, she must have looked like some little schoolgirl with a crush.

'It doesn't matter anymore what I look like or what other people perceive of me, these are my feelings and I am wrong to deny them.'

The proud swordswoman straightened herself and set off for her door once again. She reached it and opened the entrance to her room a crack, just enough to check the corridor for the others, looking from left to right she couldn't see anyone and so Motoko crept out of her room into the dark Hinata-sou.

'I really hope none of the others see me, I have no excuse for being out so late.' Motoko thought to herself as she carefully trod her way towards the stairs, being careful as to not tread on a loose floorboard and wake anyone. Minutes passed as she walked slowly, trying not to make any noise, she had just reached the head of the stairs when Motoko could hear something.

"Urrrrggghhh..." It called out.

The sound froze Motoko solid, she couldn't see exactly what it was that had made it, but she could tell it had come from the bottom of the stairs. Mental images formed themselves in Motoko's mind; shadowed shapes turned themselves into giant turtles that shrieked their unhappiness at her before they attacked.

The fear in Motoko grew, she still couldn't see the figure, but it was slowly making its way up to meet her. The young woman grasped for her side where her sword normally sat, she gasped as she found her side lay empty, and a simple realisation hit her as the shape grew ever larger.

'I forgot my sword, both of my hands were full holding the letter… my foolishness will cost me my life, and I will never get to tell Urashima how I feel!'

Motoko could feel her hands and forehead begin to sweat out of fear of facing the turtles without her sword; she closed her eyes as the black outline came within feet of her. She could almost hear its raspy breathing near her…

" Oh…Ello, Motoko….! Wat are youuu doing up now… you ssshhhhould be in bed…" Kitsune spoke out to her, causing Motoko to somehow fall over. Relief washed over the woman as she got herself up from the floor. Now they were only feet apart, Motoko could see Kitsune's features, although the woman looked slightly worse for wear now, and she stank of sake.

"What am I doing?! What are you doing?! You scared me to death!!" The younger woman said, still relieved that Kitsune hadn't turned out to be a turtle.

"Shhhhh… Shhh… you might wake sshhomeone… heheheheh… whatsh that?" The party goer jabbed at the letter held lovingly in Motoko's arms. "Ish sthat a love letter? You got shome hotty on the shide?" Kitsune started giggling as she put her arm around Motoko. "I had a man, oncsh. But the B-starred didn't have enough money to pay for my cab home, so I shed, Hey! You aint walking me home, I know the way… stupid bugger…I shhhowed him…"

Kitsune let go of her friend and continued on to her room, all the while muttering under her breath about 'not letting him have it'. Motoko shook her head in pity for her friend; she wished that she would never, ever be in a state like that.

Motoko turned back to the mission at hand; to deliver the letter that would make Urashima come home. The kendo girl managed to make it out of the inn without any problems, all that stood between her and the post box were the steps down into the city.

'I shouldn't have any problems now, Shinobu-chan and Su-chan know better than to wander outside at night.'

She quickly hurried down the steps, her heartbeat getting faster and faster at the thought of Urashima coming back, all because Motoko was going to send him the letter she had written. A brief smile entered her lips as she remembered the dream from last night,

'Maybe it will come true…' She thought.

Motoko was at this moment as ecstatic as she ever could be, all of her thoughts focused on Keitaro, she didn't even notice the sound of quick footsteps as she rounded the corner.

The woman grunted as something collided with her stomach, causing the wind to fly out of her lungs. Putting one hand to her abdomen, Motoko looked at what it had been that she had run into, she noticed on the ground before her, was a small girl with short blue-tinted hair.

"Shinobu-chan?!" She exclaimed, finding it difficult to breathe.

"M-Motoko-sempai?" The floored girl replied, sounding scared.

Motoko offered a hand to her young friend, who took it tentatively as the warrior pulled her up. "What are you doing out here, Shinobu-chan? There are unpleasant people on the streets at night."

Hinata-sou's chef backed off slightly, "I… I-I was…" Shinobu had turned bright red and looked down at the floor, occasionally glancing upwards at the older woman. Motoko stood waiting for Shinobu to answer,

'What is she hiding? She couldn't be seeing someone at night? Could she?'

Motoko considered this for a split second before rejecting it; Shinobu was not the kind of girl to do that, or anything else that involved being out during the night for that matter.

"Sempai? What is that?" Shinobu asked, Motoko's question temporarily forgotten as she pointed towards the swordswoman's chest.

Her face shone like a red beacon in the night at the realisation of what it was that the girl was pointing to. Motoko placed the letter behind her back quickly; even though she knew it would do no good, Shinobu had already seen the precious document.

"This? Oh this is… well… it's…nothing…" She said looking around nervously; she just couldn't let her friend know what it was she was holding in her hands. Motoko could tell that she probably looked extremely suspicious right now, if she couldn't think of something to say then the kendo girl would have to admit what she was doing.

"WEEEE hehehehe!" Someone shouted from behind her. Motoko recognised the voice immediately, but she couldn't believe that Su was out at this time of night as well. Shinobu, who had attached her small form to Motoko the instant she had heard the sound, had let go of her friend after the blonde girl came into view.

"Motoko, Shinobu?" The crazy inventor stopped in her tracks, looking slightly puzzled, yet still madly happy.

Motoko mentally slapped herself, instead of posting the letter in secret; she had in fact allowed all of her house mates see her outside, acting very suspiciously. 'When did I become so clumsy?' She asked herself silently. 'Oh that's right, when I admitted my feelings about Urashima; I should try to not think about him so much, it's very distracting.' Not that she seemed to have a choice in the matter.

"Su? Y-you are out here too?" Shinobu spoke up, still shaken by her friend's sudden appearance.

"Yep." She said abruptly, grinning. The foreigner put her hand in her pocket and pulled out an envelope. She held up the item showing it to Motoko and Shinobu saying, "I've written a letter to Keitaro and I'm gonna send it to 'im!"

"WHAT?!" Motoko and Shinobu shouted in unison. They turned to look at each other and blushed; both of them puzzled at the others loud response.

Before she questioned Shinobu further, something occurred to her,

'If Su is going to send Urashima a letter, then it will most likely ask him just to come back and keep Kanako away. If he then declined then the worst that would happen is that we would be stuck with Urashima's sister. Whereas if I had sent my letter and he had declined… then he would have rejected me… It would be best if Su sent hers and not mine…'

"What's this Motoko? You have a letter too?" Motoko snapped out of her contemplative trance to find Su was now behind her, holding Motoko's letter. Her heart seemed to stop dead for a moment, "SU!! That's not yours, give it ba-"

"I know! I'll post it for you!!" Su proclaimed as she turned around and leapt at the post box.

For the second time today for Motoko, everything seemed to go into slow motion. Yet this time, her body wouldn't move, she tried to stop the young girl, but all she could do was watch as the mad scientist posted the two letters. "Yaaaayy! I helped!!" Su shouted happily as she peered in at the long, dark, opening that was the entrance for the box. "Bye bye letters!! Be good!!" The eccentric girl shouted at the post box, waving her hand from side to side frantically as she bounced back to Motoko's side.

The few seconds that had passed since Su had posted the letters, Motoko had been unable to move. The thought that Urashima might not come back had only just occurred to her, but now that it had made its way into her head, it wasn't about to go without a fight.

'I was so convinced that he was just going to see that I… I mean we needed him and come back as soon as he could. But if he didn't give up his dream of archaeology for Naru-sempai, why would he give it up for any of us? I was foolhardy to think that such a small thing as a letter would convince him to come back and give us the opportunity to grow closer.'

If it hadn't meant defacing public property and dealing with the law, Motoko would have had no problem just returning to the inn to get her sword and opening the box with a technique or two. But as it was, that option was no longer viable, the three young women had made a lot of noise and Motoko could see a few sets of eyes peering from behind slightly opened curtains.

The warrior sighed in defeat. There was nothing that she could do, she would just have to wait and see what Urashima's reaction, if any, was.

Motoko guided the two girls back to the dormitory, albeit slowly. Her mind was still thinking of all the possible situations her letter could bring, granted most of them were favourable; Urashima had always tried to help any of the residents if they needed him and this time would hopefully be no different.

'Well maybe a little,' Motoko reminded herself. 'This time I'm asking him to come back so I can tell him I love him… well he doesn't know that yet…but still…'

Just thinking that sentence sent goose bumps down the kendo girl's body, she had thought it over countless times, but each and every time still stopped her heart for a beat or two.

Yet, no matter how favourable the situation there was always going to be the possibility of rejection. 'If he decides that he doesn't want to come back it will be his way of saying he doesn't care for me. Even if he does come back it might not be because of what I say! Su has also sent him a letter, what if she told Urashima _she_ loved him in what she wrote and that's why he wants to come back?!'

Thinking of her big mistake, Motoko walked behind Shinobu and Su and began to climb the steps of Hinata-sou. Ascending the great height seemed to take an age compared to when she had ran to the box earlier, it gave the now somewhat deflated warrior plenty of time to think about how she might deal with the truth, that Keitaro felt nothing but fear for Motoko's old self and that he would never see the new self that cared so much for him.

'…And there might not be anything I can do to change that…'

* * *

A/N: Well that's it, if anyone is wondering whats written on the letters I should be explaining on the next chapter, although since this is my first story, nothing is set in stone.

If you have a spare few seconds id really appreciate any comments you could give me, no flames if you please, the only thing they would accomplish is making me cry.

Just a few last things, if the amount of yen for a new kitchen is waaayyy unrealistic to those in the know, sorry, I used a currency converter for how much an English kitchen would be. And sorry, my grasp of Japanese terms is sketchy. At best. So if I get some of them wrong please have patience, I would appreciate any mistakes brought to my attention with some answers though.

Thanks so much for reading my work.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I dont own Love Hina or the characters, this is just for fun.

A/N: Hi everyone, im so sorry. Its taken me almost a month to write out 5000 words... thats not acceptable really. Things have been really busy for me recentely, and I kept putting this chapter off. When I wasnt, I was reading it and wasnt happy with it, so apologies to all of those who are angry at me.

Thank you to all of you who reviewed chapter 3, I know I had a few problems with the chap. setup but they should be fixed now. Erm, CrossEyedButterfly, thanks for the review, 'A different life' is amazing btw, but I intended the flames will make me cry thing to be sarcastic. To be fair I didnt make that too well known did I? Again thank you for the review, and to everyone else who told me im not screwing things up, yet.

Right, ill be quiet now, please enjoy this long in the making chapter 4 of 'No second chance'.

* * *

**No Second Chance - Chapter 4**

Keitaro lay in bed. A week had passed since he had come to the decision that he had nothing to live for, he had existed for a week without purpose. He felt like a zombie, a ghost, a being that didn't deserve to be in this world but not worthy of being in the next.

He shifted his eyes to the empty half of the bed, the half that had been a source of warmth and security and purpose, a purpose that he had destroyed.

The young man's gaze moved back and he stared at the ceiling, his mind punishing him once again by remembering what he had done. How he had given up on Toudai for his own selfish dream, and that how she had come with him, willingly, to help his false dream come true.

He cursed his phoney dream, his anti-dream. Keitaro wished he could have cut away the part of him that had deceived him into leaving Hinata-sou, the part that took not only his dream but that of Narusegawa's as well.

'I was so selfish, I took Naru away from everything that was important to her, and I brought her here, to where there's nothing for miles around and nobody to talk to but stupid, selfish me.

'We never should have left the inn, we had friends and family there, and most important of all, Naru was happy there.'

Keitaro sighed as he decided to get out of his bed; he was only getting himself depressed again staying here anyway, 'not that I shouldn't be,' he thought as he brought his feet out of the relative warmth.

Touching his toes down on the cold floor, he pulled the cover away with a free hand and sat up. He immediately started to feel dizzy; the blood rushed towards his brain to tell him that he had stayed in bed for far too long.

Once his head had cleared and he put on his glasses Keitaro headed to the bathroom, his morning autopilot guided him instinctively to the mirror as he looked upon his own face. He hadn't bothered shaving in the past week, and it showed, the stubble on his face was beginning to look worse than his mentors.

'Seta-san… I had thought that doing what he did was my dream, but it never was, was it? Is that why he suggested that I begin my own study? So I could learn this? Did he know all along?

'Well, I know now, but it's too late. Naru has left and I didn't go after her, I was still confused by what it was that I wanted for a dream, but now that I've figured it out, it's too late to do anything about it.'

Keitaro finished in the bathroom and headed into the kitchen, the smell of unwashed pots and pans from the past week greeted him as he entered, but he simply ignored it, it didn't seem to matter whether or not they got cleaned anymore.

He managed to gather some breakfast cereal together, sitting at the kitchen table he poured on the milk that he had found at the bottom of the fridge onto the strange shapes that occupied his bowl.

Keitaro gave a sideways look at the box that the strange cereal had come from as he began to shovel the crunchy food into his mouth. His gaze settled upon the figure on the front of the box, a sort of leprechaun looking cheery as he ate some of the colourful pieces.

He let out another lifeless sigh as he thought again of his and Naru's life here. 'I hope Narusegawa is okay.'

* * *

"Oneesan?" The small but sure voice called out again. "Oneesan, may I come in?" 

Mei Narusegawa was asking permission to be let in her sister's room, but was yet to receive her answer.

"Oneesan, I have some food for you, can I come in?" She called out to her again.

'Oneesan has been back for three days now, but she hasn't even come out of her room once. I'm really worried about her…'

Just then the door cracked open ever so slightly, the young girl could just hear her sister's voice whisper, "C-come in."

It was a start, although Mei could pick up the shakiness of her older sister's voice. 'She has been crying again… Naru-oneesan I wish you had come back home with me before this all started.'

The small red head walked in through the gap her sister had made, being careful not to catch the tray of food she had brought on the side of the door as she strode into her sisters room. Mei walked slowly into the bedroom and carefully placed the tray of food on the bedside table before turning to speak to Naru.

"Oneesan, I've got you some miso-soup and…"

Mei stopped mid sentence as she looked at her sister's face for the first time since she had entered the room. The young girl had to stifle a gasp from her lips as she looked at the almost vacant stare she received from her half-sister.

"Oneesan, I know that I can't make you feel better but if there is anything I can do please ask…" The red head suggested, trying to sound as supportive as she could.

"Hmm? N-no I'm fine really, I'm fine." The older girl replied, briefly looking at the girl before staring off into the distance once more.

A few moments passed without either girl speaking, Mei could feel herself becoming more and more uncomfortable, she had intended to come in and try and help her sister, but now she had seen the lost look upon her face, she wasn't sure what to say.

'I need to say something, anything, to get her mind off of him for just a minute.'

The eerie silence continued for what seemed like forever before Mei's brain finally produced a possible solution.

"Oneesan? I was wondering if maybe you could help me with some of my homework. I need it for Wednesday but I can't figure out this particular equation."

Mei looked on in hope that the request would maybe bring out some of the old Naru, that maybe she would help with the homework and get her mind off of what had happened. Her hopes seemed to be dashed before Naru even replied; the brunette barely responded to Mei's request as she continued to stare straight through her.

"Not… not tonight Mei-chan… thank you for the food." Naru said, unintentionally closing off the conversation again.

"But… you've been in here since you got back… I thought…" Mei trailed off. Half way through her sentence Naru had focused her eyes on the young girl; she could see the tears welling up, ready to stream down her face.

"P-please, not now Mei-chan…" Naru managed to get out before she gently began to sob.

Mei could see the pain in her sister's eyes; she felt tears of her own forming as she closed the gap between them and hugged her. To the young girl's relief, her half sister managed to embrace her back.

"I'm sorry Oneesan, I never meant… sniff… to upset you. I'm just glad your home."

Naru, who was now holding her younger sibling in her arms and still sobbing, just whispered in her ear,

"I…I know… me too."

* * *

"Huh?" Keitaro blinked and looked in the direction of the front door; he could have sworn he had heard something. The young man waited until he heard the knock again before he reluctantly got up from his place at the kitchen table, the same seat that had been his for the last two hours, and headed towards the front entrance. 

He began to think of who it could be, faces flew through his head and scenarios came to bear with each one, making Keitaro slightly anxious and nauseous at the same time.

'What if it's Narusegawa?! Maybe she's come back to kill me!! …no, that's probably just wishful thinking. Naru would just smash the door down, come in here shouting extremities and knock me into orbit… Part of me wishes that she would, it's only what I deserve. But... Narusegawa wouldn't knock and wait, patience was never her strong point.

I can't see it being any of the others from Hinata-sou either; they probably all hate me now so they would probably just invite themselves in before killing me.'

The former Karinin stopped, 'That only leaves one option… and I'm not in the mood for him right now either…'

Keitaro attempted to ready himself before he started for the door again; he could see the door shake slightly as the persistent knocking continued.

After reaching the entrance to the house, Keitaro took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hiiiiiii Naru, how are you… oh."

The lopsided grin vanished as quickly as it had appeared on the man who stood on the doorstep.

'Our… I mean _my_ only visitor, and he has great timing as usual.' Keitaro thought as he inspected the guest, a blonde haired man who stood a good three inches more so than Keitaro, he was wearing a pair of stonewashed jeans and a tight-hugging t-shirt with a baseball cap on his head.

'Not exactly uniform for a postman… hopefully he'll leave once I tell him.'

"Good afternoon, Ben. What can I do for you?" Keitaro asked, hiding none of the unhappiness in his voice, the taller mans presence was doing little to help the former Karinin's mood.

"Well, I got some post for you… but where's Naru at? She normally answers the door." Ben answered, the whole time peering beyond Keitaro into the house trying to catch a glimpse of Keitaro's ex.

All Keitaro could do was sigh in response, it had been like this since Ben had delivered their first lot of mail. Naru had answered the door in just her bathing suit and the letch had been coming back any time he could, one time he even delivered someone else's mail 'by mistake' in an attempt to spend time with her.

Keitaro had trusted Naru not to let anything happen, after all she had beaten _him_ up countless times for so much as looking at her, so he had doubted anything unsavoury would have been going on whilst he was working.

It had occurred to Keitaro sometime during the last week, that the reason Naru hadn't beaten Ben to a pulp was because he was someone other than his stupid self that she could talk to, and of course Ben had always been more than willing to listen. But Keitaro doubted that the man at his door would like what he was about to tell him.

"Narusegawa is not here, and I doubt if she is coming back." He said, letting the last part come out of him slowly, it hurt to talk about it, especially to someone like him.

Keitaro watched as he tried to gauge the taller man's reaction, and the nicest way he could describe it was, 'not well'. Ben hadn't said anything up till then, but he had begun to turn a rather deep shade of red as the news seemed to sink into him. He then started to perform a sort of high pitched stutter, making him sound like some kind of toy machine gun before he finally spoke, or rather screamed.

"_WHAT?!!!!!_" He seethed in Keitaro's direction.

"Naru left over a week ago; she… said she couldn't stand being here any more…" Keitaro replied, taking a deep breath at the end of the sentence. He wanted to add '…or me', but Keitaro just couldn't get the words out.

"Well ain't that great?! She leaves and you stay?!" Ben said, holding his arms wide as if he were asking him why it couldn't have been the other way around. "Aww man I don't believe this!"

Keitaro had a slight urge to remind him that he was stood no less than four feet away, but the urge quickly faded, it wouldn't do any good to have a go at him now, Naru was gone and he had done nothing to stop her, it was something he was probably going to regret for the rest of his life.

'My life… it was going to be our life…'

Keitaro was reminded of all the things that he had wanted to do with their life together, how they had talked about marriage, children and growing old together and everything in between. Despair hit him like a gunshot as Keitaro realised how none of those things would ever going to happen, and now that Naru was gone, his whole future seemed so uncertain.

The thoughts of growing old alone stewed in him for a moment or two before he saw the passing hand over his vision. Keitaro blinked and saw a slightly bored Ben before him.

"Hey Keitaro, you in there?"

"Yes…? Oh, yes sorry." The shorter man replied distractedly.

"S'alright, but I'm going now, no need for me to hang around any longer than I have to… here's your post," The blonde handed him a bundled collection of letters. "Right then, I'll be off, cya."

Keitaro mechanically waved goodbye to the postman, not taking his eyes away from the letters he now held in his hands. The first thing he had noticed when he had been handed them was the stamp on the letter at the top of the pile; his thoughts went a million miles in different directions upon recollection of what the stamp meant.

'The letter is from Japan!! Maybe Naru has sent me a letter saying she misses me!!! Maybe there is hope yet, I could come home and work a steady job, be together again and forget all about what happened here!!!'

The former Karinin excitedly rushed back into the house and into the kitchen, his body filled with more energy than it had been in all of the last week. He carefully placed the letters onto the kitchen table and sat down before taking off the rubber band that held the precious pieces of paper together.

Keitaro steadied himself as he came to opening the envelope of the top letter, he didn't want to tear the valuable words that lay inside but he also couldn't wait to read what could be a second chance for himself and Naru.

Moments that seemed to last forever passed and the letter was open, he reached inside and pulled out the folded piece of paper that lay within, being as careful with it as if it were a small child in his arms. He slowly opened the piece of paper, his heart doing back flips at the thought of being forgiven and being able to be with Narusegawa again, Keitaro tried to steady himself as he slowly read the words before him.

**_Hey Keitaro!_**

****

**_How are the dirty things over there?_**

"Huh?" He exclaimed. Unsure of what he had just seen exactly Keitaro read the first sentence again, but he was still none the wiser once he had scanned through it once more.

'What the hell is this? What is Naru talking about? I don't have any dirty things with me; she threw them all out once she found them…' Keitaro thought, still dumbfounded by what it was he had read.

Unconsciously he took one hand away from holding the letter and brought it to his chin, he assumed the thinkers position, not that it was doing him any good, as the sentence still didn't make any sense…

But the former Karinin suddenly noticed something; over the stench of the unclean kitchen he could smell something very familiar, something that made him feel almost nostalgic, tentatively he brought his hand to his nose and gently smelt it, letting the aroma enter his senses before he quietly spoke.

"Bananas, the letter smells of bananas."

Keitaro looked at the bottom of the letter just to confirm his suspicion, he noticed the name signed at the footer and slumped back in his chair slightly, he had gotten his hopes up and as always he had paid for it.

'I should have known better, Naru would never say that she misses me, after all, she is the one who left, if anything I should be the one telling her I miss her.

'Thinking about it maybe I should tell her that I miss her and I'm sorry, it might not do any good but it will remind her that I still think about her, and Naru deserves to know that I've given up on archaeology, just like I gave up on Toudai…'

Keitaro felt a twinge of anger at himself; in giving up Toudai, the one thing he had wanted for so long, for something else that he had recently decided he didn't want, he no longer knew what he wanted to do with his life. A million times worse was the fact that he was alone and everyone who knew him probably hated him for being so horrible to Naru.

'Yet, if Su-chan hates me, why has she sent me a letter?' Keitaro thought, 'Maybe Naru couldn't tell me herself that she misses me, and Su-chan has written to tell me how she feels… yes that's got to be it!'

The young man sat back up straight in his chair and began to read the letter again, he could hear his heart pumping through his chest, he didn't want to get his hopes up but he wanted so much for Su to tell him that Naru missed him.

**_Hey Keitaro!_**

****

**_How are the dirty things over there?_**

**_I don't understand why you like playing in the ground so much, I tried it here and all that happened was I found a lot of worms, they were yummy!!_**

**_I did a bad thing today, old lady says that we need a manager "so that nothing else happens", so I was wondering, did you wanna be manager again?_**

**_Its boring here without someone to try out my inventions on, Motoko has been studying so she aint playing with me, so if you come back will you play with me?_**

**_So, do you wanna?_**

****

**_From Su,_**

****

**_p.s. bring me some bananas back with you!_**

Keitaro finished reading and put the letter down on the table, the words continued to ring inside his head until he managed something he hadn't done since Naru had left, he smiled, it wasn't a grin of any kind, but it was a smile, and a start.

'Su-chan misses me! She didn't outright say it but I know that's what it meant!' The young man thought as he wore his contented half smile.

'I'm so glad that Su doesn't hate me, I still have a friend even after everything I've done. She might even have given me a purpose again, being Karinin wasn't always perfect but it was the only time I was ever truly happy! But…' He thought suddenly as the smile faded, 'That was because I was there with Narusegawa, and the letter didn't mention her at all, I hope Narusegawa got back all right.'

Keitaro sighed and leaned back in the chair. As they had been for the past week, his thoughts were clearly centred on Naru.

'Su didn't mention Narusegawa once, maybe she didn't go back to Hinata-sou… maybe she didn't make it back at all?!?!?!'

The young mans face turned to white at the thought of Naru's flight crashing in the middle of the ocean, the helpless young woman face down in the freezing water.

He shot up from his seat and ploughed into the side of the table throwing the remaining letters and his forgotten breakfast all over the floor.

"OH MY GOD!! NARU'S DEAD!!!! AND ITS ALL MY FAULT!!!" Keitaro screamed at the top of his voice.

"THE OTHERS?! ONCE THEY FIND OUT THEY'LL KILL ME!!! AAAAIIIIEEEEE!!!"

It was at this point that Keitaro's brain stopped functioning and he began to run around the kitchen like a headless chicken. The young man managing to make one full circuit before his flailing legs contacted with something on the floor that slipped out from under him, sending the panicked man falling to the ground.

Keitaro could see stars appear before his eyes as his head smashed into the corner of the table; only the adrenaline he had received from his previous revelations stopped the impact from knocking him unconscious.

"Ughhh" He managed as he shakily picked up the remains of his body from the kitchen floor. "What did I slip on?"

He sluggishly turned around to see three white objects sprawled out on the floor, each of them having a portion of a large footprint upon them.

"Wha- more letters? I guess I must have forgotten all about them." He said, sheepishly holding a hand to the back of his head.

Naru's 'plight' suddenly forgotten, Keitaro strolled over towards the marked envelopes and deftly picked them up, before stacking them into an orderly pile. Shuffling through he quickly noticed something very strange.

"Another three letters from Japan?" He questioned to the empty room.

Slightly mystified, he decided to open up one of the letters and began to read its contents.

**_Dear Sempai,_**

****

**_I hope that this letter receives you well. Naru-sempai explained what had happened and I am truly sorry that things did not work out between you, I was really glad when I saw how happy you were with Naru-sempai._**

As Keitaro's eyes scanned the message, the tightening in his chest began to let up, the young man could feel the dread dissipating down into the pit of his stomach at what he had just read. He sighed in relief, "Thank goodness, Naru made it home okay… and Shinobu-chan sent me a letter too, she really is a sweet girl." He looked back at the message and continued reading.

**_I am writing this letter to you sempai, to ask that if you wanted to, maybe you could come home? It has not been the same since you and Naru-sempai left, and everyone wants things to be back the way they were. I know this isn't possible because of what has just happened but I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to, you can come back, I'm sure everyone would like to see you again._**

**_Naru-sempai has left to stay with her mother, so you wouldn't have to worry about upsetting her, the other residents talked about it and they don't have any problems with you coming back._**

**_I am sorry if this letter bothers you Sempai, I just wanted to tell you that you may be able to return to Hinata-sou if you wanted to. _**

**_I was wondering if maybe I could ask just one thing? If you were to return from your excavation, would you not tell the others that I have sent this letter, while the residents have agreed that they want you to come back to Hinata-sou, I do not wish them to know that it was I that contacted you._**

****

**_Yours Faithfully,_**

****

**_Maehara Shinobu_**

****

"No one would have a problem with me returning?" He repeated the words that had stuck in his brain. "maybe… I could…".

The former Karinin took his eyes away from the letter and stared out of the kitchen window, the view through the pane showed the remnants of the dig site, the rain had destroyed all of his work, not that it mattered now.

'Well, I don't have anything to stay here for, and Shinobu-chan is as right as ever, it would be nice to see everyone again, even if it was just for a while.' He thought back to Su's request. 'No, I couldn't become the manager again; if Naru saw me around there again I don't know what she would do. I need to apologize to her for everything that I've done… Yes. I'll go home; I need to sort things out.'

He silently thanked Shinobu for her help; she had always stuck by him, even when he was his clumsy, stupid self.

Keitaro sat up a little straighter than before as he looked back into the kitchen, his body agreeing with him for the first time for a while. It seemed that at his core he needed a purpose.

"It's settled then, I'm going back to Japan." He paused as he remembered the remaining two letters, "but before that, lets see who these are from." He said as he grasped the third envelope from its perch upon the table. As he started to read, Keitaro's eyes began to widen, he certainly wasn't expecting a letter from _her_.

****

**_Good day Urashima,_**

****

**_I am writing this letter for two reasons. The first of these, to tell you of how sorry I am that the relationship between yourself and Naru-sempai has ended. Naru-sempai has explained what had come to pass, and although I can understand why she left, I can also sympathise that you had a dream that you had to fulfil._**

****

**_The second reason for my writing this letter is an attempt to ask a favour of you. During the time since you and Naru-sempai left many things around Hinata-sou have changed, myself included, but not all of these changes have been for the better._**

**_Haruka-san has told us that a manager is needed for the smooth running of the inn, and I could think of no better person than you. _**

**_I have learned that Naru-sempai is no longer staying at the inn, so any problems that would be caused by both of you being in residency have been eliminated._**

**_Even without Naru-sempai staying here I would understand should you not wish to become the Karinin once more, but in truth, nothing would please me more should that come to pass._**

**_Yours truly,_**

****

**_Aoyama Motoko_**

"…nothing would please me more should that come to pass…" He muttered under his breath. Out of all of the people he had expected to get a letter from, Keitaro never would have thought that Motoko would be one to send him that kind of message,

'Especially in the way she asked me…' The former Karinin thought, he was slightly confused by the words that lay before him.

"I guess Motoko-chan really must have changed, I… have been away for a long time." He said, somewhat solemnly. "Still, I don't think it would be right for me to become the manager again, regardless of what Motoko-chan says."

The young man placed the letter with the other opened messages to one side before he reached for the last. He could still hear himself say Motoko's words in his head, on the one hand, he was happy that Motoko could express herself like that, her message, and everyone else's helped Keitaro to realize that people still cared for him. But part of Keitaro wanted to punish himself for leaving, Motoko had said that not all of the changes were good, and those changes had happened because of him, and Naru, leaving.

The young man shook his head, 'being self destructive isn't going to do me any good' he thought as he banished the depressing judgment he had tried to place upon himself. He was going to go back to Japan and try to put things right, end of story.

He confidently reached out and grabbed the last letter. "Right, ill just read this then ill go pack!"

Keitaro tore open the seal and put his hand in to pull out the contents, to his surprise, a small piece of card with writing on came out of the gap. Looking at the small piece of card he could see that the writing was in Japanese, but it was difficult to understand what the markings meant. The curious Keitaro pulled the card closer to his face to try and read the scribblings, his face turned again to one of surprise as he could suddenly smell alcohol near by. As soon as he had smelled sake he knew who the card was from, Keitaro's face grew a small smirk as he wondered what kind of rubbish a drunken Kitsune would write to him.

**_Hey Keitaro,_**

**_How you doin'? Naru told me about what happened, I'm sorry things didn't work out between you, but she did tell me a few other things too… I always thought you were a bit of a stud but I never would have imagined!!_**

**_It must be very lonely out there… all on your lonesome, and you know, things have been really boring here without a big, strong, man such as yourself… I was wondering if maybe you could back and I'll show you how much I've missed you… and don't worry about Naru finding out, your secret is safe with me (wink!)_**

****

**_from Kitsune (your sexy fox)_**

****

**_P.S turn over for a sneak preview!_**

****

"…okaaayyy." Keitaro said in disbelief. The young man couldn't quite figure if Kitsune was being serious or not, he never was able to tell, and he definitely had no idea where the "stud" comment came from. He knew he was going to regret it, but he slowly turned over the card to find out what "sneak preview" the conniving woman was talking about.

The newly reinstated Karinin's eyes went wide at the realisation of what the card actually was, it was in fact a Polaroid, of Kitsune, in a bathing suit.

"Holy Crap!!"

A small trickle of blood poured from his nose as he stared at the picture of the woman, she was bent over as if to pick something up, but she looked at the camera with a seductive smile that she wore so well on her lips. Keitaro's eyes inched downwards to the two-piece bathing suit that the foxy woman was wearing, all the while feeling the blood boiling in certain parts of his body.

"Dammit!! Looks like I'll be needing a cold shower before I pack…"

* * *

A/N: And thats it for this chapter, if you liked/didnt like it, please let me know. I can guess what most peoples comments might be, in that 'when are we gonna get some motoko/Kei fluff?' Well the answer is it wont be far away, Ive been thinking about the direction of this fic for a while whilst writing this chapter and I can safely say its gonna be coming up. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this.


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